


Parenthood Is The Real Overtime.

by GrannySutcliff



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Alternative universe - physically female Grell, Complicated Relationships, F/M, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-08
Updated: 2016-06-10
Packaged: 2018-04-13 15:45:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4527903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrannySutcliff/pseuds/GrannySutcliff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>William didn't know if he loved Grell yet. He was confused about how he felt towards her, despite the fact that they were technically seeing each other reasonably frequently on a bedroom basis outside of work, and they'd worked together for God knows how long now.<br/>That was all very well, until Grell dropped a bombshell on him. Will William find a way to balance his strong and stern work ethic with a baby on the way, or will something more important remove his eyes from being so fixed upon his job? </p><p>Find out in my first work here on archive of our own, 'Parenthood Is The Real Overtime.'</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One reaper's work ethic is another's misery.

‘Hello?’ she sounded nauseated on the phone, her voice a pained whisper.

That being said, today was an important day, and William T. Spears didn’t wish to give any special favors to anyone. Especially not his secret lover.

‘Grell Sutcliff, when I call for a department-wide lineup for assignment, I expect that lineup to be, by definition, _department-wide._ Without exception.’

He tapped his foot impatiently, turning his back on his other colleagues, all of whom were preparing their death scythes for mission.

‘Please, William. I can’t do this today. Can’t you take a few of the trainees in my place?’ Grell’s voice replied shakily, as though she was holding back vomit.

It wasn’t like Grell to miss fieldwork, particularly in these tumultuous days. The year was 1940, and human world was at the height of war once again. Mass air bombings of the overcrowded city of London had meant the need for at least a dozen reapers per day, and in particular, those like Agent Grell Sutcliff, who thrived in the department of soul collection. She would usually have jumped at an opportunity like this, and William, as head over the department, was under tremendous pressure to gather ranks. A prick of worry jabbed inside his chest at her refusal.

William sighed slightly, not wishing to have to beg her for her help but feeling the need to rise to his lips.

‘Sutcliff, please…I need you out there. We cannot even dream of facing this task without you. The others are waiting,’ he lowered his voice slightly more, a question of her welfare rising in his mind, ‘what’s the matter with you, anyway?’

There was a pause, filled with the sound of sniveling from her end of the phone, then…

‘I can’t tell you now. Just come back safely from this assignment. I’ll tell you after, in person.’

‘Come now, Grell, don’t be so pathetic. All this drama over what seems to be a little stomach flu-‘

‘William, don’t-‘

‘Now, you listen to me, I made a deal with you, that I could only have this relationship with you if you kept your end of the deal. _You are no exception to diligent work_ ,’ William spoke even more quietly and coolly than before, in some ways being harder on her than he would be on other colleagues, ‘ _I am still your boss and superior within the department, and when it comes to your job, you must obey my comm-‘_

‘Will, I’m pregnant.’

He stopped mid-sentence, that _dreaded_ word washing over him. He was silent as the sound of Grell finally allowing herself to be sick filled his ears from her end of the phone. The slimy sound of _morning sickness_ hitting the inside of a toilet bowl.

How could that be, when they had been so careful over this last year? How long has she known, and kept the secret from him? When had she actually planned to tell him? How had he not figured it out for himself? How could they have time for this and their very important work as grim reapers?

All these questions, and no time to answer them; his team was ready to depart for the human world. He hung up the phone, cutting off the sound of her retching and sobbing. His work was first and foremost, and nothing could change that. He would deal with all this after.

‘If you’re all quite ready,’ he whipped around the face his team, seemly unphased by the phonecall, ‘we’re one down, but if we’re lucky we can manage today without Agent Sutcliff.’


	2. Grell Knocked Up, Knox Beat Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Grell awaits William in her miserably worried (and nauseated) state, she contemplates what her life would be like if she had to undertake the months of pregnancy alone. Though William is all she has ever wanted in her life as a Grim Reaper, she has wanted a baby for a much longer time. How will William react to the news? Will he leave her to face the months ahead solo, or will he agree to give her the help she knows she deserves. Find out, in this latest installment of 'Parenthood Is The Real Overtime'!

She had no idea what time they would finish, but all she knew is that William would most likely be coming for her (at least, she hoped he would be...), so she decided to sit up and wait for him, all curled up on her old-fashion, red coach, only a small lamp lighting the cosy living room. She was terrified. He did not easy abandon his orders or give up on his forceful, persuasive argumentation to his underlings to do their part. She kept making deals in her head with heaven knows who…God?

 _‘If Will treats me gently and doesn’t get angry,’_ Grell said to herself, her head resting on her lap miserably, ‘ _then I’ll simply forget about the fact he hung up the phone on me and didn’t ask me if I was alright, or if I needed him. Maybe it would be alright if he didn’t want to be together anymore. I don’t mind if he doesn’t want to be involved, after all, I coped without him for all that time…if he wants to leave me…I mean…I can do this by myself…really…I…’_

She felt hot tears spilling down her face not for the first time that day. Not for the first time that month. Not for the first time since she had realised she hadn’t bled when she was meant to. Oh God, she was petrified of what William was going to say to her. They’d had all kinds of fun in this room; right here, on this very couch, is where they had consummated their relationship. Now, she felt ashamed... _dirty…s_ itting here. Unfit to continue having fun. Knocked up and broken. She should have been happy...a baby was all she had ever wanted and cried for. But she was finally William's girlfriend, and that had been hard enough to achieve. Now _that_ was most certainly ruined...and she realized that she _couldn't_ get through this most sought-after state without her darling by her side. 

She fastened her dressing gown more tightly around her, seeking the comfort which she could not find within.  
She pulled her knees to her chin and sniffled, wiping away the tears with her sleeve for about the millionth time today. She could still taste her vomit, and smell it as well off the loose strands of hair that had escaped from her messy topknot, but she felt nauseous for worry rather than morning sickness just now.

At eleven forty seven P.M, just as she was feeling herself nod off, Grell heard a key turn in the lock. She felt suddenly wide awake, her hands and face going numb as her stomach jumped to her throat. However, her panic shifted to worry in a short moment. By his heavy, laboured footfalls, she thought for an awful moment that William had been injured. However, she realised that her lover was well, but that someone else was in need of aid, when she heard whimpering in a voice very unlike Will’s, and a voice more familiar saying in a breathless, anxious murmur, ‘Alright, we’ve arrived at Agent Sutcliff’s house. I’ll wake her to assist us.’

‘It’s alright, I’m here,’ Grell called as she hurried to the hallway, gasping slightly at the sight. Ronald Knox, their junior in the department, lay on the floor spread eagled, William kneeling beside him, panting exhaustedly. Three gashes were torn into the front of the younger reaper’s shirt, and the blood was seeping through. He had obviously bled heavily initially, but his body was beginning to self-heal, a process made more difficult and painful with certain types of wounds. Ronald’s face was pale, his teeth clenched in pain and his eyes squeezed shut in apparent agony. He was shivery and drenched in sweat. Grell hurried to his side, kneeling down and pressing a hand to his forehead. Boiling. She looked at William, who was crouched opposite her, on Ronald’s other side, not looking her in the eye.

‘Poor little Ronnie, he’s burning up! What has happened to him? Was it…?’

‘Yes, a demon. He’s over the worst of it, but he needs something to ease the pain so he can sleep it off,’ William spoke quickly, matter-of-factly, and still didn’t look up at Grell, ‘he’s still fairly out of it.  The soul-memories it has caused him to experience seem to have particularly affected Knox. He cried at one point, and became dead weight-‘

‘Why didn’t you call me to help you with him-?‘

‘Because, Grell Sutcliff, I assumed you too unwell at that time. That, and I felt quite unprepared to see you, as do I presently. Therefore, we will deal with Ronald as efficiently as possible to that I can depart from your company and not have to deal with the elephant in the room tonight.’

Grell’s eyes shown with tears as hurt flooded her heart, her temper beginning to rise in the same instance.

William continued, his voice unyieldingly cold, ‘I am going to get him to the spare bedroom on this floor. If you please, go and fetch a cold compress and something for his pai- eh? Agent Sutcliff, what on earth do you think you are doing?! Have you lost your mind?!’

Unceremoniously, Grell had lifted Ronald’s quasi-lifeless form off the floor and was hauling him over her shoulders effortlessly, her strength unfailing despite her unwell state, ‘You go and get him the medication, William. You know better what he needs – you, after all, are better at the theoretical than I. Let go…Will, please let go, you’re making this harder than it has to be. **_William, let go, immediately!_** ’

‘Sutcliff, I can’t let you carry him by yourself,’ William was trying to take Ronald from his fiery colleague, pulling the blonde haired reaper’s arm over his own shoulder, ‘come now, let’s get him to bed-‘

‘ _Why_ not? Why can’t I carry him myself, William? Isn’t that the usual way we do things if someone’s injured? We both know I am twice as able to lift as you! Let go of him, and go and get the rest of the supplies! The longer you argue, the longer Ronnie is in pain. Do you really want one of your prize reapers to be in pain because you refuse to comply?’

‘Grell, stop this now! I refuse to let you carry him alone, in your condition!’

Though William’s voice was annoyingly unmoving from its coldness, she felt relieved. He’d acknowledged what she’d wanted him to acknowledge. They both knew that Grell was much stronger than William, and if the circumstances were different, as she had pointed out, she would definitely be allowed to transport their injured friend to the spare room, single handed. She smiled inwardly as she allowed William to help her carry half Ronald’s weight. Once they had transported him onto the allocated bed safely, Grell knelt beside her younger colleague, soothingly brushing her fingers through his hair and shushing him soothingly as he whimpered quietly in pain. William brought medication for Ronald to help him sleep and numb the sting of his wounds as they healed, which he administered to him on a handkerchief nasally (it was an old technique of administration, but it was one both Grell and William had learned was highly effective for cases like this where the reaper was out of it). It took only a short time to take effect, and soon, the agony and panic induced lines on Ronald’s forehead disappeared as he drifted into some sort of peaceful, comatose state.

‘He’ll awaken when his healing is complete –one of us should really remain with him at all times,’ for the first time, William met Grell’s eyes with his, ‘I shall stay, seeing as it’s my fault he’s this way…I wasn’t able to protect him myself-‘

‘No, I should be the one to be here for him, considering this probably wouldn’t have happened if I had shown up to assist with today’s mission,’ Grell pursed her lips in exasperation as William pushed his glasses up his nose with one slim, cynical finger and frowned coolly at Grell in response to her apologetic offer.

‘Honestly, Sutcliff, don’t flatter yourself. It’s as though you think none of the rest of us underwent the same training as you did-‘

Grell’s voice was indignant as she interrupted, ‘Well, I’m awfully sorry, dear, but when your boss is practically begging you down the phone to come to work, claiming ‘we need you out here’, it definitely insinuates that-‘

‘I didn’t beg…besides, it insinuates very little, we were doing extremely well without you-‘

‘Oh sure, William, clearly, judging by the state of Ronnie, you were all doing _fine_ ,’ Grell retorted, her voice snapping at the end of the sentence. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest, pausing slightly, ‘you know, it is bad enough to not even ask me how I’m feeling, after me being too ill to come and provide my highly requested reaping services, but to claim that my absence went completely unnoticed is a new low, even for you.’

‘Will you shut up if I allowed you to sit with Ronald with me? I can’t even face an antagonised situation tonight. My head is rather full already, as you can imagine.’

Grell stayed quiet, then, suddenly feeling very worried again. He was looking away from her, but she refused to take her eyes off him. It was then she realised the damage he had sustained himself – there were bruises around his jawline where he had clearly take hits, she could only imagine the situations William must have faced today to receive those. He kept rubbing his neck and wincing in pain, and there was an unsightly bruised scratch across his sharp cheekbone. All marks of a very long day.

‘You’re hurt, Will,’ Grell pointed out gently, trying to make amends for her outburst a little.

‘No, I’m quite alright, thank you,’ William responded defensively, in the same moment rubbing his neck again.

‘You are. That scratch looks painful, anyway, and I absolutely want to do something about it right this second,’ she responded in the same gentle, maternal voice, and padded off to the kitchen in her fluffy, pink slippers to make them both a cup of tea. She returned with said tea in two mismatched mugs and a damp cloth. Setting down her own English breakfast blend on the bedside table, she handed William his, sitting on the edge of the bed quietly and dabbing his cheek softly with the cloth. He protested at first, however his neck was disallowing him to try away from her with a simple head turn, so he quickly but grudgingly gave in, but still refused to look directly at her.

After a few moments, Grell swallowed hard, and softly asked, ‘William, can you look at me?’  
William obliged in silence, his eyes moving to Grell, but his aloof expression not shifting.

‘I…I know you’re scared, Will-‘  
‘I’m not. I am merely angry and confused, both about your incessant need to be this intimately close, and about the other business of you being...you being-‘

‘Pregn-‘  
‘Yes, alright, Sutcliff! Let’s not speak of this now.’  
‘If not now, when?’ Grell hadn’t expected she’d be fighting back tears quite as fast, or that she’d sound like she was pleading with him as much, ‘when it’s obvious? When I’m showing…if I show? I mean, many reaper women don’t show much…but even still. Then, William, will you want to talk about it?’ she paused slightly, giving him a bit of time to process, because despite his intelligence, he always seemed to need a moment for things to sink in.  
‘Will, your anger is coming from your fear, and I’m afraid too,’ she continued bravely, ‘it isn’t just you. I _absolutely cannot_ believe this. I mean, I thought I was incapable,’ her voice cracked under the strain of holding back emotion, but she somehow managed not to fall apart, ‘You are all I have ever wanted in this life, William…but there is something I’ve wanted...wanted for always, William-‘

‘Grell, I have not had a moment to myself the whole day, will you desist with this spiel and let me think, please?’ he pushed the cloth, and her hand, away from his face.  
Grell did as she was told, silencing herself, trying harder still to remain strong and deny her tears the right to fall. She wouldn’t let him see her cry, and she wouldn’t beg him for anything.

‘Alright, but answer me one thing, Will.’                 
‘Yes, if I don’t find it too ridiculous.’  
‘Do you still love me?’  
He was silent for a moment, his expression still remaining unchanged, before he quietly murmured, ‘I do not believe I have used that word yet to describe how I feel about you anyway, Grell Sutcliff. However, if it is consolation you are looking for, I don’t plan to discontinue our relationship completely, though you should be aware that it may alter. Additionally, I feel it is my responsibility, too. It’s my child as well.’

Grell gasped slightly, feeling as though he was throwing her a lifeline of hope, that she could have a chance of being both of the things she had ever wanted to be. A mother…and William’s wife.  
‘This means…’

‘ _Now don’t get carried away, and get that look out of your eyes. It is very unsettling,’_ a vein in William’s forehead, so famously named _Angry Albert_ by Ronald, altered Grell that her partner was still rather frustrated, so she tried to stop her face looking as hopeful as she felt. Another silence followed.

‘But you mean you aren’t going to leave me, don’t you?’ she finally plucked up the courage to ask.

‘Who said I would leave you? Is that what you think of me, Sutcliff? If that’s the case, you do not understand the first thing about me.’

‘I never meant it like that, Will…I’m…I’m s-sorry,’ finally, Grell was crying into his torso, in relief, and gratitude, and in remorse, that she ever thought William would make her do this on her own, ‘th-thank you…oh, I’m so relieved, darling. I l-love you, so m-much-‘

‘Oh, honestly! Stop this silly emotional outburst immediately, you know I absolutely cannot deal with this type of response from you,’ William tutted, folding his arms angrily, seeming quite aloof once more. She tried to stop her tears, but that only made matters worse, for she felt her nausea rising once more.

Noticing her paling over, some sort of instinct overcome William – perhaps that of ‘this is a nice suit, I cannot possibly allow her to vomit on it.’ Whatever it was, it caused him to rise from his chair and aid Grell to the bathroom as fast as he could make her move in her current state. Once they arrived, she threw herself at the toilet, her over heightened emotions obviously spilling over into another round of morning sickness. William flinched, more phased by the fact she hadn’t even had time to grab her hair than the actual sound and sight of his partner being so ill. Grell’s red main had somehow untangled from the messy bun and was tumbling down around her green tinged face, very much getting in the way of things.

Not taking pleasure in the task and trying to put his professional steeliness to the side for the time being, William sighed and knelt by Grell’s side. Gently, he began to pull away the bile-soaked hair from around her, reminding himself that he had seen and held much more revolting looking and smelling things in his life than this mass of tangled red filled with vomit, so unlike Grell’s appearance-proud locks at this moment in time.

‘I’m…sorry,’ Grell choked and sobbed solemnly from the toilet basin, ‘I…didn’t w-want you…to see me this way.’

‘I wouldn’t be a very good; for want of a better word and I shudder to use it; boyfriend, if I refused to see you any particular state,’ William touched Grell’s arm in as sympathetic a manner as he could muster, as she began to sob something about herself being hideous, ‘and you can stop now with this self-conscious nonsense of looking good, no one has the slightest concern about how you look at the moment except yourself. It’s a very silly thing to care about when there are bigger reasons to worry-‘

‘Oh, I kn-know that. I m-mean, if I can’t cope with a little n-nausea and hormonal-ness now, imagine what k-kind of time I will h-have to take off work when other symptoms k-kick in-‘

‘Please settle down, Grell. Those things are nothing we haven’t dealt with before. You always show up to work late, if at all. Also, you are always overly hormonal, and it makes me rather nauseous. We can discuss this another day, when we aren’t both exhausted and you aren’t in this sorry state. Oh, for goodness sake!’ William tutted as Grell’s glasses slid off her sweaty nose as she retched again. William caught the spectacles in time, manoeuvred them from around her neck and laced them by their chain around his fingers for safe-keeping. It didn’t take long for her nauseous spell to pass this time, thankfully, though William made her stay by the toilet to make absolutely sure she was finished. She snivelled as they remained kneeling together on the floor, neither of them saying anything as she cleaned herself up, cleaning her face and picking pieces of vomit out of her hair. It was about ten more minutes before she had recolored enough in her face that William felt it was safe to take her to bed.

‘Are you sure you don’t want me to stay with Ronald?’ she asked in a genuine voice, her eyes massive and yearning to please.

‘You aren’t terribly fit to do so. Come now, up you get,’ supportively placing an arm around her waist, William helped Grell up as he stood himself. He sighed, handing her the glasses he had saved, observing her as she blew her little red nose miserably.

‘You don’t half make me feel sorry for you, you defenceless twit,’ William found himself feeling relieved that Grell had recovered from her little spell, in spite of himself.

‘I shan’t be getting much sympathy from you, then, in these next few months?’

‘That is an unanswerable question. Goodness knows what we’re both going to do in these next few months, but I’d rather they be as painless and without bother as possible.’

Grell chuckled slightly, smiling for the first time that evening and showing her teeth, looking more like herself, ‘That’s easy for you to say, Will.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, precious readers!  
> I did not expect to get such a pleasant response to my first chapter of this fanfiction! I am so delighted with the outcome and hope this will spur me on to write more religiously on this as I return to university next month.  
> I have struggled with the second chapter - I mustn't have my fic sea legs back properly yet! It's hard to get back in the swing, though I must tell you that I write much better without pressure (mostly at the dead of night, at about 2am, when the ideas flow out of me like cinematic record!).  
> Anyway - I hope chapter 2 doesn't disappoint! I wanted to make William as grumpy as heck but highlight the fact also that he is actually a nice guy, who is in fact very supportive and in love with Grell, without knowing that he is. He really has a problem with emotion, and I'll be damned if my girl Grell and I can't crack him by the end of this fiction with all the fluffiness and baby-ness <3 
> 
> Enjoy, per favore <3


	3. Chapter 3: The Agreement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Upon waking up from his comatose state, Ronald Knox is flabbergasted by the news William delivers to him regarding Grell's pregnancy. How will William cope with revealing the situation to the only other reaper he trusts? And 'what is this agreement?', I hear you ask! Find out how their conversation plays out in my latest (and long awaited) instalment of 'Parenthood is the New Overtime'!

‘With child? What do you mean? Like…pregnant? Surely, you can’t be serious?’ Ronald stared at his boss, as though he had expected any other answer to the question, ‘What’s up, Mr. Spears, sir?’ apart from the one William had just given.

‘Yes, Knox, I'm afraid so…and in case you were in any doubt, it is mine. Don’t repeat this. I am only telling you because you have the right to know why Grell was unable to assist us in the mass reaping, partially causing you to be injured,’ William sighed as he watched Ronald sit up in bed and adjust himself, then glanced at the window, for the first time noticing that dawn was breaking, ‘she was going to stay up with me to look after you, but she was still very ill with morning sickness, and exhausted. When she fell asleep I carried her to bed…Knox, for goodness sake, close your mouth. What _are_ you thinking that has caused you to make that face?’

‘Sir…I don’t want to be offensive or anything…but…’ the blonde reaper paused, his eyebrows raised, ‘I thought that we all just played along with Ms. Sutcliff thinking she’s a real lady. I didn’t know she actually is. Like…with a fanny, and everything-‘

‘Knox, please-!‘

‘And then, when you two got together; and believe me, sir, it’s no secret, I thought to myself, ‘Well, good on you, Mr. Spears, sir…Ms Sutcliff is right and bloody hot, even if she’s not really a woman’. But now…well. Now there’s no ‘if’, or ‘but’…you’ve bagged yourself a _real lady_ , boss-‘

‘Drop this now, Knox,’ William’s voice had reached that danger level of coldness that meant Ronald knew he was about to get himself in trouble. The raven haired reaper sighed in exasperation, showing his glasses up his nose, ‘honestly, its times like these I wish I’d just lived through the misery of the human life until the sweet release of natural death. You idiots are insufferable…you…Sutcliff. Everybody here.’

‘Again, not to be rude, sir…but it seems to me as though you’re a bit of a moron yourself if you think you’re excluded from the idiocy. We all screwed our human life up, to the point of self-destruction. We all are suffering for our sin. If you ask me, it seems like you’re even more of an idiot than any of the rest of us, and in fact the most intelligent one of the lot of us is Ms Sutcliff.’

‘How dare you-?!’

‘Because, boss, I’m afraid to tell you it’s the truth. She’s using her second life in the reaper realm as her chance at happiness, and it would seem that her woes which caused her to die in her human life, instead of haunting her as chains she bears, are the little pieces of hope she has for herself. She wanted to be in a loving relationship, and to have a child…and at least, now, she’s getting one of those. Look at us, sir…all we do is work, in your case, and in my case drink and shag alongside the work. All these things, to take away the pain we may no longer choose to feel, but which is still there.’

‘Honestly, Knox, if you hadn’t have been comatose just twenty minutes ago, I would be putting you in administration for all eternity, for your insolence,’ he paused, frowning and furrowing his brow in thought, ‘though, admittedly, you do have a point, but never tell Sutcliff I said that,’ he paused again, and sighed, putting his face in his hands, ‘just…why me, Knox? I don’t deserve this turmoil. I just wanted a peaceful eternity of reaping souls, administration and reading books. At first, I didn’t see the harm in…in occasional coitus with Sutcliff, and I found it to be liberating to live slightly in transgression. Then I realised she’d stopped wanting just sex, or rather had always…always wanted something more of me, which I hadn’t realised-‘

‘Because, like I said, sir, you’re an idiot-‘

‘Yes, _thank_ you, Knox! As I was saying…she wanted me to take her dancing and to dinner. To court her. I didn’t want to, as I was hoping we could merely maintain a professional relationship-‘

‘Despite the fact you were screwing her? Seriously, boss, don’t you hear how fucked up this sounds-?’

‘Are you actively trying to get removed from fieldwork?’

‘No, but-‘

‘Then please, kindly, shut up. I refuse to talk about this anymore with you. Honestly, Knox, you are on a completely different planet.’

‘Oh, yeah,’ Ronald rolled his eyes, ‘it’s definitely me who’s on a different planet…’

There was a pregnant silence, in which they both waited for each other to retort. But no words came, not until Ronald’s mind became to polluted with questions to stay quiet.

‘Pardon me, sir. I feel like…I’m probably being a bit insensitive here, in general. But, see…I don’t understand. Why have we all just always assumed she…Ms. Sutcliff was a man until now?’

‘The human life of a reaper has a funny way of following into this realm, at times…Sutcliff informed me she came from a well to-do family of four sisters, where she was the eldest and most flighty and frivolous. She refused to settle down, moving from man to man because she claimed she did not feel that any of the previous ones had been right for her.

‘Her sisters, meanwhile, all found suitors, settled down, and had seven children between them. When she finally married, she fell pregnant shortly after, only to lose the child weeks before it was due, also finding out that her reproductive organs were disease ridden at the same time, disallowing her to try again for a child. Her husband died soon after from blood poisoning. She experienced so much resentment for herself, her entire self, that she punished herself by denying her femininity. She cut all her hair off and became depressed and idol…she thought she might as well be a man, because she couldn’t have a baby, and therefore did not want men to see her as a lady. It was the loneliness which ensued after she made this decision that forced her to commit suicide.

‘I does seem farfetched, however I believe her…if she was as dramatic in her human life as she is in this life, then I believe her. And God knows, if she was _this_ dramatic in her human life, how I will I ever manage to make her calm down enough to tolerate being bound to her through this…this…accident? Christ almighty…’ William pulled him glasses off and jammed his palms into his eye sockets in frustration.

‘Sir, are you…are you going to _cry,_ sir?’

’Oh, honestly, Knox,’ William tutted derisively, thinking better of the hot precipitation he was preventing from being obvious with his hands, though apparently he couldn’t hide it. It was the first time he had ever allowed emotional weakness to occur in front of any college apart from Grell. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and all at once, he was sobbing uncontrollably.

‘I mean, for God’s sake, what do I do, Knox? I…I don’t want to be _bound_ to Sutcliff! All I could ask for is a reasonably uneventful eternity, paying back what I owe, so I could perhaps try to move on. Sutcliff…she’s too much of a loose cannon. She’ll never move on from this realm. I’m stuck with her here, forever…with a _baby. What on earth am I going to do with a baby, Knox?_ And I shudder to imagine Sutcliff mothering anything – despite all her blether about wanting a baby and being ready for it, she hasn’t the faintest idea what she’s letting herself in for. She’s emotionally unstable enough as it is…with two sets of emotions to cope with, she will be virtually impossible to work with. And I shudder to think about all the prenatal classes…and childbirth. Oh, my Lord - Sutcliff, in labour.’

‘Well, the midwife’ll be lucky to get out without a scythe in her chest, that’s for damn sure,’ Ronald sniggered quietly, obviously trying to lighten the mood.

‘And can you even imagine _me_ trying to deal with Sutcliff in that much pain? Being sympathetic for hours on end? And being a _father_...’ William trailed off, unable to verbalise the worry he felt and feeling drowned with every concern, small and large.

After several moments of silence, Ronald cleared his throat.

‘I get it…why you’re concerned, sir. If it helps, I can fill in for you in the moments you feel like you can’t cope with things…I mean, I know you’ll step up, boss, but if it comes to that, and you give the order, I’ll quite happily do whatever it takes through these next few months to make it all a bit more comfortable for you and Ms Sutcliff. I know things can be tense between you two, but I’m pretty good at mediating I think, speaking from experience. You might say it’s all been good practice in the lead up to this moment.’

This was true. Grell and William had both been in charge of Ronald’s training when he was a Junior Reaper in the department. Despite his rambunctious character, Ronald Knox had been rather a talented one to walk through the doors of Reaper dispatch, excellent in both administrative skills and field reaping. These were, respectively, the areas of expertise of William T. Spears and Grell Sutcliff. Knox had come out top without even having to try. Compartmentalising seemed absolutely to be his middle name and he was terribly good at distancing himself from situations while still being sympathetic. He was also the only other person who could calm Grell down when she got a bit psychotic. This knowledge is what made William agree.

‘Yes, that would indeed be useful, Knox. Thank you,’ he looked up at Knox, finally sure his tears had dried up, and put a hand out for Ronald to shake, as though the two were sealing some kind of strange business deal.

Shaking his boss’s hand, Ronald shrugged, ‘Could be an interesting project for me, anyway. Like a social experiment, you know?’

‘Perhaps for you, yes, because you can escape.’

‘Fair point, sir.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, to my loyal and patient readers,  
> I am terribly sorry about the long and gruelling wait for this chapter! I have had an absolutely horrendous year at university with mood issues and various other problems, and so am also postponing my graduation. However, I feel writing will be a useful tool in aiding my recovery - in fact, perhaps it will become one of the most integral cogs! I want to become an even better writer, and hope that I can through publishing me on here - so EXPECT FREQUENT UPDATES from here on out!  
> I hope beyond hope you liked this chapter! Again, apologies for the long wait!

**Author's Note:**

> Hello lovely readers, 
> 
> It has been quite sometime since I have been committed enough to a fandom to write about it. A few years ago, when I was writing fanfictions about a certain gay pop sensation, I never in a million years thought I could ever break out of the reality-tv show-like world of mpregging people that really exist, let alone come out the other side, in the very fictional world of manga and anime.  
> Grell Sutcliff is a character I carry very close to my heart. I cosplay her, RP her, and now, I am going to begin to fanfic her with the only one I can bring myself to truly ship her with: the wonderfully stern and cold walking worksuit that is William T Spears. I adore them together. They are my only OTP in Kuroshitsuji and my favourite OTP in general <3 I am writing Grell female here, mainly because I promised myself I'd never write another MPreg again.  
> I really hope you enjoyed chapter 1, and will remain tuned in for the ones that follow. Trust me, this is going to be good.


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